STOCKTON, Calif. — An Instagram post circulating on social media claims staff at Franklin High School in Stockton have been "controlling student movement" by chaining doors shut and blocking exits with golf carts, limiting students and staff to one single exit to a building.
Photos posted to the Instagram page "SUSDVoices" show doors at the high school tied by chains and blocked by a golf cart. The post says only one exit was left open for students, putting them and staff members "in a potentially very dangerous position."
The post also alleges the school has been blocking sets of exit doors with chains and golf carts on more than one occasion.
THE QUESTION
Are administrators at Franklin High School in Stockton locking or blocking all but one exit to a building?
THE SOURCES
- Stockton Unified School District public information officer, Melinda Meza
THE ANSWER
Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) authenticated the photos of the chain and golf cart blocking doors. The school district says that while the photos are legitimate, the building has four doors for students to exit through and the incident was corrected.
WHAT WE FOUND
Officials with SUSD say school leaders made corrections upon noticing the incident and the school district will be sending a memo to all school leaders in the district with information on proper protocols.
"Building A at Franklin High School has four exits and it has been brought to our attention that one of the exits was locked and blocked by a golf cart," SUSD wrote in a statement. "This has not been an ongoing issue and at no time was there only one exit in the building. The safety of our students, staff and teachers remain a top priority."
When pressed on how school leaders responded to the incident, Stockton Unified added, "The incident was corrected right away. A memorandum has been sent to all school site leaders district-wide regarding proper protocols."
Operators of the SUSDVoices account, who wish to not be identified due to fears of retaliation, say they disagree with the school district's statement but note that there could be more to the decision to block doors.
"The situation at Franklin is probably more complicated than what SUSDVoices initially understood it to be," said the page's operator. "We disagree it was one exit affected and on the length of time they were closed for... I’ve seen Facebook posts, I've seen communication from students and I have received photos from students and anecdotal evidence from students."
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